The images above are from Village Day 2019
Deadline for the August 2023 newsletter is 25 July.
Parish Council Meeting: Thursday 13 July
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 13 July at 8pm in the village hall. Any member of the public who would like to raise an issue to be discussed at this meeting should contact the Clerk.
Members of the public who would like to speak to the Parish Council in person should register with the Clerk prior to the meeting.
Contact details are: Lisa Lathane, Clerk to the Parish Council:
Preston Parish Council Bottle Tombola
The Parish Council is organising a bottle tombola on Village Day on Saturday 1 July and will be grateful for any donations of unopened and in date bottles. Contributions can be either left with Jane Clark at Castle Farm where a suitable container will be provided or brought to The Green on the day.
Register With The Owl System
Keep up to date with what’s going on in your neighbourhood by signing up to the OWL System (Online Watch Link). Information about crime, the latest crime prevention advice and local community news is sent by email from Herts Police.
Visit www.owl.co.uk for further information or email the Watch Liaison Officer at WLO@herts.pnn.police.uk.
Details are also available on the Neighbourhood Watch page of the Preston Village website at www.prestonvillageherts.com.
Or download the free OWL App by searching the App Store or Google Play for
‘OWL Crime Alerts’
This can also be used for reporting crime.
St Martin’s Church and All Saints’ Church Services
Sunday 2nd July
|
9.30am
11.00am |
St Martin’s All Age Communion
Romans 6: 12 – end Matthew 10: 40 – end All Saints All Age Communion |
Sunday 9th July
|
8.00am
9.30am
11.00am |
All Saints Holy Communion (BCP)
St Martin’s Holy Communion Romans 7: 15 – 25a Matthew 11: 16 – 19, 25 – end All Saints Sunday Praise |
Sunday 16th July | 11.00am
6.30pm |
All Saints Holy Communion
Romans 8: 1 – 11 Matthew 13: 24 – 30, 36 – 43 St Martin’s Songs of Praise followed by drinks |
Sunday 23rd July
|
9.30am
11.00am |
St Martin’s Holy Communion
Romans 8: 12 – 25 Matthew 13: 24 – 30, 36 – 43 All Saints Holy Communion |
Sunday 30th July | 10.00am | Joint Service at All Saints
Holy Communion |
Team Vicar of St Paul’s Walden with Preston:
Letter From The Vicar
Being a vicar gives me a privileged window on life in our villages.
For example, I see babies born and then baptised, which is a real joy. I see children grow up and leave their primary school.
Couples come to see me about getting married, and I am so looking forward to Danny and Candice’s wedding this month at All Saints.
And of course, there are life’s downsides, like the loss of a job, with anxiety and hardship often resulting. There is ill-health, sometimes with the hope of recovery, and sometimes not. And we see that people die – bringing pain and grief, and sometimes anger, as a result.
No two situations are alike, and I find there is no point in making comparisons, because things are as they are for you and not otherwise.
The cycle of life, like the cycle of the seasons, turns. We are now plainly in the summertime of the year: we have perhaps forgotten the heavy snow of the winter, even if we regret the loss of plants or shrubs.
For Christians, the faith to which we hold is that through the ups and downs of the cycle of life there is an underlying presence of God to be our footing. It is especially vital to remember that the divine presence holds onto us when we’re going through the downsides, the negative parts of the cycle, and we are to hope and trust that we will come through it.
I wish you a very good summer, whether part of it is spent away or not, and whatever your situation.
With every blessing
Stephen
St Martin’s Church 150 Club 2023/2024
The winners in the June draw in the 2023/24 150 Club (£30 each) were:
No. 32 Mrs S E Griffiths
No. 56 Capt. M R Lowle
Neighbourhood Watch
The number to contact at North Herts Police for all non-emergencies (including witnessing of fly-tipping) is 101 or 01707 354000.
For removal of fly tipping which has already occurred, call NHDC 01462 474000 or online at www.north-herts.gov.uk, then follow the links to Transport and Streets, Street Cleaning and Fly Tipping where there is a form to complete to report the details. If you use the What3Words app, please include the three words for the location of the fly tipping.
PCSO Heather Burrows can be contacted regarding local community issues.
Contact details are as follows:
PCSO Heather Burrows: 07740 745168 or 01438 757604 or heather.burrows@herts.pnn.police.uk
In the event of an emergency or if you witness a crime taking place please call 999.
Reporting suspicious activity
Please report any suspicious activity or vehicles you may witness in the locality.
Call the police on the non-emergency number 101 or report it online by using the website www.herts.police.uk/report and follow the links.
Hitchin Foodbank Shortages
The following items are the most urgently needed: Tinned fruit (not grapefruit); Tinned tuna; Coffee 100g; Tinned meat (not pies); Sponge puddings; Fruit juice; Tinned potatoes; Dried milk; Shampoo.
Please ensure items are undamaged and in date. Donations can be deposited in the blue box in the garage at Lychgate House, Church Lane, or at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. Thank you for your continued support; for more information please visit letchworth.foodbank.org.uk
Police Surgery – Village Hall – Saturday 8th July
A Police Surgery will be held in Preston Village Hall on 8th July from
10.30 am – 12 noon. PCSO Heather Burrows from our Safer Neighbourhood Team will be happy to discuss any concerns you may have.
Timetable for Village Day
open all day | The Red Lion – open all day with live music from 17:30 featuring SG4 and The CoLLIDER |
12:30 | The majestic static display of the Birds of Prey will begin in the field behind the Red Lion |
12:30 | Scarecrow Guides with judging forms and emoji puzzle answer sheets, will be available on The Green
Mouthwatering hot dogs, beef & veggie burgers will be being served at the BBQ Deliciously tempting ice cream from Dawlicious Ice Cream |
13:00 | The refreshments stall will open serving a selection of scrummy sweet and savoury goodies and non alcoholic beverages
The games and stalls will also be open for you to peruse, play and hopefully pick up a prize or two… |
13:30 – 13:50 | The Birds of Prey will be giving an incredible Flying Display and then will settle down on their perches for you to see them, up closer, before they leave at 16:30 |
14 :30 | Preston Primary School’s wonderful Maypole Dancing Display will begin. This is such a joy to watch whether your child is dancing or not |
15:30 | The Preston Dog Show – don’t forget to bring your dogs along to enter, they will always be winners in your eyes but will they take away a prize to be Preston’s Top Dog or even the one with the waggiest tail? |
19:00 | Please can all Scarecrow judging forms be returned for your scores to be counted. They can be returned to The Green up until 17:30 or the box in the porch at St. Martin’s Place until 19:00.
The judging forms will then be entered into a prize draw with two prizes – one for the junior judges and one for the senior judges. |
Scarecrow Trail
Friday Evening | Where possible the Scarecrows will be on display from Friday evening through to the evening of Sunday 2 July |
12:30 Saturday | Scarecrow Guides with judging forms and emoji puzzle answer sheets, will be available on The Green |
Saturday Night | Our plan is to add up all the scores Saturday night. |
Sunday Morning | We will walk round on Sunday morning [as early as possible] and place award certificates on the winning entries. |
Village Day – Saturday 1 July, 12:30 on The Green
With Scarecrows from Friday
It’s less than a week until Village Day, and we’ve received some wonderful nominees for the 80’s themed OSCARecrowS. We’d love to have even more…
So please let us know if you’re planning on making a scarecrow. Will you choose funny, thought provoking or even scary? There’s so much to choose for the 80’s – from the Miner’s Strike (Yes, when someone was asked what the first thing they thought about from the 1980’s was, their immediate response was the miner’s strike) to Boy George and Fraggle Rock. Knowing who will be making a scarecrow will help us draw a map and arrange for the scarecrow hotels, but you still have until Friday.
The scarecrows in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place will receive a wonderful memento of the day and the scarecrow in 1st place will the overall winner’s trophy!
Things to remember:
- It’s your scarecrow and you may create whatever you want to, it doesn’t have to be the 80’s;
- you don’t need to live on the Scarecrow Trail to make a scarecrow, it can stay at a ‘hotel;’
- you don’t need to let us know the name of your creation until Friday the 30th of June;
- you don’t have to join the competition to make a scarecrow, please say at the same time you give the name that you want to share the fun but not the competition.
Scarecrow Trail
Where possible the Scarecrows will be on display from Friday evening through to the evening of Sunday 2 July. Our plan is to add up all of the scores on Saturday night.
We will walk round on Sunday morning [as early as possible] and place award certificates on the winning entries.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We are hoping to surprise you with some extra events but more importantly we are hoping you, your family and friends can join us to celebrate the very special community we live, work and go to school in – a chance to catch up with old friends and maybe make some new…
We look forward to seeing you at Village Day and walking round the Scarecrow Trail over the weekend,
The Preston Trust Committee – Adrian, Jo, Liz, Rae, Tim, Vicky and Wal
Parking on Village Day
Please look out for a PNS about where to park, if possible, on Village Day so that The Green can be left clear for the fun and festivities.
If you’re not on the PNS but would like to be told the best place to park
and let us know you’d like the suggestion of where to park.
Help for Village Day
Thank you to all of you who are helping in some way on, or for, Village Day. If possible, we would really benefit from some more volunteers please. If you haven’t been contacted yet, and you are available to help, please let us know. This is what is needed:
10 00 am Set Up
12 30 – 17 00. whether for an hour, or more, on a stall or refreshments
17 00 Clearing Away.
We are grateful for any and all help offered.
In particular we would really appreciate hearing from someone who can shadow Phil for the day as he sets up the sound system and electrics for the day. This will involve some laying of cables and the volunteer would need to arrive at the Green no later than 10:30 please.
Several people offered the use of their gazebos for the Jubilee and Coronation Celebrations. Please may I ask again if you haven’t been contacted yet, whether you could let us know if you are happy for us to borrow them again please?
Cakes and Goodies for Village Day
The refreshment stall will be offering a scrumptious array of sweet and savoury goodies for everyone to enjoy. Exactly what is dependent on the contributions that have been received. We would be extremely grateful if anyone would make or buy something for the others to savour, whether it be a cake or crisps ! Donations can be dropped off at St. Martin’s Place on Church Lane beforehand or brought to The Green on Village Day from 10:30.